HINGHAM, Mass. – Marylou’s Coffee plans to expand to Rhode Island and open five shops by the end of 2011, The Patriot Ledger reported Thursday.

“I am very excited because this is a big deal for us,” said Marylou Sandry, company owner who opened her first café in 1986. “We are stepping out of Massachusetts … and we are expanding quickly.”

The five shops, recognizable by their signature hot pink-and-black color scheme, will provide over 150 part-time and full-time jobs in Rhode Island.

The shops will be located at Shell stations in East Providence, scheduled to be open by mid-November, North Providence, Smithfield, Johnston and East Greenwich. Work is already being done on the East Providence shop where the company is currently hiring; as for the other locations, a new shop is expected to open every three months.

The new Rhode Island locations will be through Shell stations owned by Colbea Enterprises LLC, of Cranston, which has had a Marylou’s at its Pembroke, Mass., station since February.

Marylou’s Coffee, with 24 Massachusetts shops throughout the South Shore and one on Cape Cod, offers drive-through service for its hot, iced and frozen coffees, hot chocolates and pastries.

“I am very excited about [the expansion] but there has been a bit of a learning curve,” Sandry told The Patriot Ledger. “We are learning that things are different in Rhode Island including sales tax, labor laws, workman’s comp and insurance.”

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